As the Africanist Press continue to expose huge and unrealistic salary inflations in the last two years of the ‘New Direction’ government, many Sierra Leoneans have said in the Krio Parlance: ‘’nar dooh don clean pan dem’’ meaning their dealings in the dark have been exposed to light for all to see.
The ‘New Direction’ dispensation of President Bio had premised their March 2018 elections campaign on ‘fiscal discipline and efficient management of state resources.’
The campaign mantra of fiscal discipline, during the March, 2018 Presidential and Parliamentary elections, resonated well with the citizens’ aspirations. Sierra Leoneans were of the view that the economy, under the previous regime of the All People’s Congress, was on austerity and that salaries were barely paid from overdrafts.
Upon taking over state governance after the elections, The Bio regime exposed and criticised the high wage bill and domestic debt levels. The wage bill, at that time, stood at Le150Bn while domestic and external debts were at four trillion Leones and two million US dollars respectively. These debts, according to the Bio government, were the highest Sierra Leone had incurred since independence.
These figures, some Sierra Leoneans said, seriously weighed down the economy.
The International Monetary Fund (IMF), the World Bank and the European Union left the country prior to the 2018 elections after accusing the past government of mismanagement of the economy. They had issues with the continued payment of subsidies by former President Koroma, to almost all sectors particularly the Oil and gas sector, to prevent prices of goods and services from shooting up.
The Koroma government had turned down an IMF and World Bank advice to remove subsidies on rice and fuel and to halt the Mamamah Airport City Project with funds to be derived from China’s Exim Bank in the sum of US$380M.
By and large, the ‘New Direction’ Peoples’ Manifesto had clearly campaigned on the efficient management of the economy by the introduction of seemingly sound economic measures. In so doing, the Bio government assured Sierra Leoneans that the government would not borrow debts that would be a burden on the economy. As a result, the government introduced the TSA and sacked most workers who were on contract jobs especially at State House and the Office of the Vice President.
Two years down the line, things do not seem to go the way they should. Government introduced a stiff tax regime leading to the collection of taxes far much more than what obtained in the recent past.
The wage bill continues to grow under the Bio government from an initial Le150Bn to Le 258Bn in 2018 to a projected Le317Bn in 2020. Government negotiated lofty contracts with various functionaries at State House and the Vice President Office leading to an inflation of the wage bill hiding under the cloak of an infinitesimal increase in salaries of teachers and health workers.
Investigations conducted by the Africanist Press, few weeks ago, have unearthed massive corruption in the Government payroll since the ‘New Direction’ government came to power almost two years back. Concrete evidence exists to show salary gaps by the so-called ‘New Direction’ surrogates in the last two years.
The investigations have uncovered an unholy enterprise in which government had surreptitiously added salaries of top official at State House as well as Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDA’s) doubling what they inherited. It is incontrovertible that these officials are paid salaries far above those earned by teachers, professors and other staff in the public sector.
The so-called wage and salary harmonization promised to be offered to the people of Sierra Leone still remains a farce. State and other top executive officials continue to receive fabulous salaries from state coffers. The Financial Secretary, Sahr Jusu, for instance, was reported bagging home over Le89M and State House officials take home between Le27M and Le35M a month.
The Africanist Press reports have been made credible by a lose response from the Ministry of Finance justifying the payment of such salaries on the basis that they maintained what they inherited from the past government.
But, Sierra Leoneans are wondering why a government that had promised to prudently manage state resources resorts to inflating or maintaining salaries they claimed to have inherited. What is now new in the ‘New Direction?
The government’s cavalier attitude towards state resources is compelling Sierra Leoneans to say “Nar Doe Don Clean Pan De ‘New Direction’ government. It is abundantly clear that what they have been hiding in the dark is finally out for all Sierra Leoneans to see.
By all indications, Sierra Leone will have to witness more startling revelations from the Africanist Press as they continue to expose the ‘New Direction’ administration.
This drama is expected to position the country’s Anti-Graft Agency and the Parliament of Sierra Leone to take actions on behalf of Sierra Leoneans if really they care.